diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/scr_fs_stream.c b/packages/runtime/src/scr_fs_stream.c
index 421438b94..ae53f5d4e 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/scr_fs_stream.c
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/scr_fs_stream.c
@@ -186,7 +186,10 @@ static bool scr_fss_try_inline(ScrFssOp *op) {
     if (errno == EOPNOTSUPP || errno == EINVAL || errno == ENOSYS) f->inline_ok = false;
     return false;
   }
-  if (n == 0 && op->kind == SCR_FSS_WRITE) return false;
+  /* A zero is not taken as EOF here: some kernels (Linux 5.9 and 5.10)
+   * answer 0 instead of EAGAIN for an uncached RWF_NOWAIT read, so the
+   * pool's read decides, as it does for a zero-byte write. */
+  if (n == 0) return false;
   if (op->kind == SCR_FSS_READ && n > 0 && (size_t)n < op->len) {
     op->got = (size_t)n;
     return false;
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-read.ts b/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-read.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e9fd3739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-read.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Reads a file it writes first through a ReadStream and prints the byte
+// count and a checksum (fs-stream-nowait.test.ts runs it with a preadv2
+// shim).
+import { createReadStream, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "scr-nowait-"));
+const file = join(dir, "data.bin");
+const data = Buffer.alloc(300000);
+for (let i = 0; i < data.length; i++) data[i] = (i * 13) & 0xff;
+writeFileSync(file, data);
+let bytes = 0;
+let sum = 0;
+createReadStream(file, { highWaterMark: 16384 })
+  .on("data", (c: Buffer) => {
+    bytes += c.length;
+    for (const b of c) sum = (sum + b) % 65521;
+  })
+  .on("end", () => {
+    console.log(`bytes=${bytes} sum=${sum}`);
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+  });
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-zero.c b/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-zero.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69626997f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-zero.c
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+/* LD_PRELOAD shim for fs-stream-nowait.test.ts: preadv2 with RWF_NOWAIT
+ * answers 0, as Linux 5.9 and 5.10 do for an uncached RWF_NOWAIT read;
+ * other calls go to the real preadv2. */
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+#include <sys/uio.h>
+
+ssize_t preadv2(int fd, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt, off_t offset, int flags) {
+  if (flags & RWF_NOWAIT) return 0;
+  ssize_t (*real)(int, const struct iovec *, int, off_t, int) =
+      (ssize_t (*)(int, const struct iovec *, int, off_t, int))dlsym(RTLD_NEXT, "preadv2");
+  return real(fd, iov, iovcnt, offset, flags);
+}
diff --git a/tests/harness/fs-stream-nowait.test.ts b/tests/harness/fs-stream-nowait.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6ba9e074
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/harness/fs-stream-nowait.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/* fs streams read a regular file with RWF_NOWAIT on the loop thread first
+ * (scr_fs_stream.c). Linux 5.9 and 5.10 answer 0 instead of EAGAIN for
+ * an uncached RWF_NOWAIT read; a preloaded preadv2 shim reproduces that
+ * answer, and the stream must still read the whole file, as Node does. */
+import { execFileSync, spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { compile } from "@scriptc/compiler";
+
+const repoRoot = join(import.meta.dirname, "../..");
+const cacheDir = join(repoRoot, "node_modules/.cache/scriptc-tests");
+const sanitize = process.env["SCRIPTC_SAN"] === "1";
+
+describe.skipIf(process.platform !== "linux" || sanitize)("fs stream RWF_NOWAIT reads", () => {
+  test("a zero from an RWF_NOWAIT read is not taken as EOF", async () => {
+    const outDir = join(cacheDir, "fs-stream-nowait");
+    const result = await compile(join(repoRoot, "tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-read.ts"), {
+      outPath: join(outDir, "read"),
+      outDir,
+      backend: "llvm",
+    });
+    if (!result.ok) {
+      throw new Error(result.diagnostics.map((d) => `${d.code}: ${d.message}`).join("\n"));
+    }
+    const shim = join(outDir, "nowait-zero.so");
+    execFileSync("clang", [
+      "-shared",
+      "-fPIC",
+      join(repoRoot, "tests/fixtures/fs-stream-nowait-zero.c"),
+      "-o",
+      shim,
+      "-ldl",
+    ]);
+    const expected = "bytes=300000 sum=50681\n";
+    const plain = spawnSync(result.binaryPath, [], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    expect(plain.stdout).toBe(expected);
+    const shimmed = spawnSync(result.binaryPath, [], {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: { ...process.env, LD_PRELOAD: shim },
+    });
+    expect(shimmed.status).toBe(0);
+    expect(shimmed.stdout).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});